228 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



COW PEAS AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 



By 



A. M. Ten Eyck, Agronomist, and L. E. Call, Assistant in Soils, Kansas 

 College of Agriculture. 



Because cow-peas are an important crop to dairymen, and 

 particularly in some central and Southern districts of the state, 

 a 1909 bulletin on the subject from the Kansas Experiment Sta- 

 tion is here given : 



The cow-pea, botanically named Vigna unguiculata, has long 

 been recognized as a valuable crop for the Southern states, 

 where it has been extensively grown for forage and green 

 manuring, but it has only been within comparatively recent 

 years that the general cultivation of this crop has extended 

 into the Northern states. The cow-pea is a native of India, and 

 it is supposed to have been introduced into this country from 

 England in 1734 by the Oglethorpe colonies in Georgia. The 

 cow-pea is an annual leguminous plant, varying in form and 

 habit of growth with the variety, season, soil, moisture and 

 cultural conditions. As a rule, it has a trailing habit of 

 growth, vining profusely during seasons of heavy rainfall. 

 The blossoms are of various colors, ranging from white to 

 purple, while the pods are usually straw-colored when ripe 

 and vary in length from five inches to over a foot. As a rule, 

 the pods do not ripen at the same time. With many varieties 

 there are periods of several weeks when all stages of growth, 

 from blossoms to mature peas, may be found upon the same 

 vine. This makes the time of cutting for seed a difficult matter 

 to judge. The time must be selected for cutting when the 

 largest number of pods are mature and before the peas have 

 started to shell. The seeds vary greatly in size and shape. In 

 color they range from white to the deepest black. The root 



